Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Our family is planning to move to Idaho this Spring/ Summer 2014. We'd like to be close to CdA for my husbands work, shopping, and other activities, though we're not sure we want to live directly in CdA. We currently live on 4 1/2 acres in a very rural area and love our space. What towns within 30 minutes to CdA would you recommend? Here are some of the towns we've looked at: Post Falls, Hayden, Hauser, Rathdrum, Hayden Lake, Athol, and Kingston. Any others in between would be alright to share about too. Here are some of our requirements: good neighborhood (I know what it's like to live down the street from meth heads and don't want that again), kid friendly ( we have five children whom we homeschool), some space (we don't like to be right on top of our neighbors and I love to garden), little wind ( where we live now the wind is horrible), Not too expensive housing ( we plan to buy cheap at first and then buy something better after we've had a chance to better explore the areas), and Decent winter highway (my husband will probably have to commute to CdA for work, so a decent highway between the town and CdA would be nice). I'd love to hear all your thoughts! Even though we don't plan to be in this first home long, we still have to be there for sometime, so we want to enjoy it. Input please !
Most of those sound like good candidates to me.
Post Falls - more in city- lot of newer housing tracts etc- not my pick
Hayden - part city, part rural
Hauser- Dunno Rathdrum- My pick for best mix of rural yet closer to city
Hayden Lake - lil more citified
Athol- Nice but a bit further from city for everything- figure half hour drive or so for most things.
Bayview has lots of part-time neighbors in vacation homes.
Kingston - Don't know it
Only city has cable TV & internet- in other areas it's 2 year Dish contract etc & lesser internet. I've read lotta horror stories about satellite internet so have avoided it.
Search property manager CDA as well as craigslist etc
Come places want 3 times rent price for move in plus pet deposit, others only 2 times.
Thank you! This is helpful. It sounds like Hayden and Rathdrum may be top choices for us. I forgot to mention a place that can get decent internet and cell phone service. I have read from some of the other forums that those signals can be issues in some places. I'm not too worried about the trains. As a teenager I lived in a house with train tracks in our back yard. I don't want them that close again, but the noise didn't seem to bother me too much. I think the shaking was more bothersome. Anyways, I really appreciate your help!
I've been living in Hayden 8 months and love it here. People are friendly, everything you need is five minutes away (shopping, banks, restaurants, gyms, hardware stores, etc) yet it has a nice rural feel.
Our family is planning to move to Idaho this Spring/ Summer 2014. We'd like to be close to CdA for my husbands work, shopping, and other activities, though we're not sure we want to live directly in CdA. We currently live on 4 1/2 acres in a very rural area and love our space. What towns within 30 minutes to CdA would you recommend? Here are some of the towns we've looked at: Post Falls, Hayden, Hauser, Rathdrum, Hayden Lake, Athol, and Kingston. Any others in between would be alright to share about too. Here are some of our requirements: good neighborhood (I know what it's like to live down the street from meth heads and don't want that again), kid friendly ( we have five children whom we homeschool), some space (we don't like to be right on top of our neighbors and I love to garden), little wind ( where we live now the wind is horrible), Not too expensive housing ( we plan to buy cheap at first and then buy something better after we've had a chance to better explore the areas), and Decent winter highway (my husband will probably have to commute to CdA for work, so a decent highway between the town and CdA would be nice). I'd love to hear all your thoughts! Even though we don't plan to be in this first home long, we still have to be there for sometime, so we want to enjoy it. Input please !
Hayden is right next to CDA.
Post Fall is a little city.
Rathdrum is ok, a little bit of a drive in the winter.
Don't bother with Bayview, it is very small, pretty, but the roads can be nasty.
Kingston is probably further than you'd want to drive all the time.
I'd choose Hayden, Hayden Lake or Athol.
memomfive - I don't know if you've Googled the little towns of Pinehurst, Kellogg, Osburn or Wallace, ID, yet, my wife and I lived in Kellogg, ID, for about a year and a third and it was a good place ta live. Most of the regulars on here would caution you on living there, however, as would I, because of the severe driving possibilities during the winter. To the east lies Lookout Pass and to the west (and potentially blocking your way to CDA) is Fourth of July Pass. Both passes can render very tough driving conditions for you. The worst one for me was Fourth of July Pass. A snowstorm started one night while we were in Spokane and it started snowing worse as the dinner period continued on. We stopped in CDA ta go to Albertson's for something. By the time we started heading east on I-90 home to Kellogg the snow was thickening. On Fourth of July Pass it was so slick I couldn't get our 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS much faster than 20mph. On top of the Pass semi-trucks were turned sideways in the westbound lanes in the holding position, waiting for the snow to stop coming down. Snowplows were working the westbound lanes but not yet the eastbound lanes. We headed back down the pass and made it home to Kellogg about 7:00PM. I was so happy to make it back safely and fire up our nat.gas heater for the house!
One could find some nice, open, farm-type land in this area, though, so I wanted to tell you. Kellogg, ID, is a mountain hamlet of about 2,200 people, with a cool ski resort in town called Silver Mountain Resort. There is a gondola there that has the longest single-car gondola ride in the world, it is 3.1 miles up the mountain! Kellogg has a Yoke's Market for groceries and several small gas station-type marts. It has several rental homes available in town because it's primary industry, mining, is now quite a bit shut down. Mining is still open in some places in the Silver Valley, however.
The land and mountains and rivers are beautiful in the Silver Valley but it is kind of cold for some people. I enjoyed my stay but couldn't make a steady enough living there in my field, which is the Allied Healthcare field. I attempted to get on with Shoshone Medical Center, but to no avail. I ran a Cardio-Rehab clinic in Dr.Haller's medical office there in Kelloggg for the time period I mentioned above. I left Coeur d'Alene, ID, in Jan.2013 for a job in Respiratory Therapy in Alamogordo, NM, and it is working out and I'm happy here in the beautiful SW desert. My wife and I do love the desert but I will always love Idaho. I hail from Seattle, WA, and my wife's from Chicago, IL. I sincerely hope you find what you're looking for in the beautiful state of Idaho. The state is one of the most wide open, gorgeous places left in America!
When you get the time study some of the state's mountain formations. It is quite a complex chunk of mountains in Idaho. The ranges are wide, tall and gorgeous. Take a look into it when you have time and have settled down in the town you guys settle in. Enjoy that gorgeous state - it truly is something special!
Last edited by elkotronics; 01-05-2014 at 08:55 AM..
I've been living in Hayden 8 months and love it here. People are friendly, everything you need is five minutes away (shopping, banks, restaurants, gyms, hardware stores, etc) yet it has a nice rural feel.
This really sounds like what we'd enjoy! Hayden sounds like a really nice place. Having space, but still being close to everything we would need would be a nice change from where we're at now. We live in the country and LOVE it! Until just 2 years ago my husband always had to drive an hour to work. Now he works close to home, but we have to drive an hour every 2 weeks for shopping and most the time we're rushed and can't really enjoy it. If we forget something, oh well, we do without. Anyways, I'd love not to have to drive so far to shop anymore. And I really don't want my husband to have to go back to working an hour from home.
Hayden is right next to CDA.
Post Fall is a little city.
Rathdrum is ok, a little bit of a drive in the winter.
Don't bother with Bayview, it is very small, pretty, but the roads can be nasty.
Kingston is probably further than you'd want to drive all the time.
I'd choose Hayden, Hayden Lake or Athol.
Thank you brokencrayola! It's good to know the thoughts of locals. We're prepared for nasty roads, but prefer to not have them if we can avoid it. We prefer to use our four wheel drive vehicles for fun! So Bayview may be out.
You say Rathdrum is a drive, but recommend Athol. Isn't Athol a further drive or is it on better roads?
memomfive - I don't know if you've Googled the little towns of Pinehurst, Kellogg, Osburn or Wallace, ID, yet, my wife and I lived in Kellogg, ID, for about a year and a third and it was a good place ta live. Most of the regulars on here would caution you on living there, however, as would I, because of the severe driving possibilities during the winter. To the east lies Lookout Pass and to the west (and potentially blocking your way to CDA) is Fourth of July Pass. Both passes can render very tough driving conditions for you. The worst one for me was Fourth of July Pass. A snowstorm started one night while we were in Spokane and it started snowing worse as the dinner period continued on. We stopped in CDA ta go to Albertson's for something. By the time we started heading east on I-90 home to Kellogg the snow was thickening. On Fourth of July Pass it was so slick I couldn't get our 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS much faster than 20mph. On top of the Pass semi-trucks were turned sideways in the westbound lanes in the holding position, waiting for the snow to stop coming down. Snowplows were working the westbound lanes but not yet the eastbound lanes. We headed back down the pass and made it home to Kellogg about 7:00PM. I was so happy to make it back safely and fire up our nat.gas heater for the house!
One could find some nice, open, farm-type land in this area, though, so I wanted to tell you. Kellogg, ID, is a mountain hamlet of about 2,200 people, with a cool ski resort in town called Silver Mountain Resort. There is a gondola there that has the longest single-car gondola ride in the world, it is 3.1 miles up the mountain! Kellogg has a Yoke's Market for groceries and several small gas station-type marts. It has several rental homes available in town because it's primary industry, mining, is now quite a bit shut down. Mining is still open in some places in the Silver Valley, however.
The land and mountains and rivers are beautiful in the Silver Valley but it is kind of cold for some people. I enjoyed my stay but couldn't make a steady enough living there in my field, which is the Allied Healthcare field. I attempted to get on with Shoshone Medical Center, but to no avail. I ran a Cardio-Rehab clinic in Dr.Haller's medical office there in Kelloggg for the time period I mentioned above. I left Coeur d'Alene, ID, in Jan.2013 for a job in Respiratory Therapy in Alamogordo, NM, and it is working out and I'm happy here in the beautiful SW desert. My wife and I do love the desert but I will always love Idaho. I hail from Seattle, WA, and my wife's from Chicago, IL. I sincerely hope you find what you're looking for in the beautiful state of Idaho. The state is one of the most wide open, gorgeous places left in America!
When you get the time study some of the state's mountain formations. It is quite a complex chunk of mountains in Idaho. The ranges are wide, tall and gorgeous. Take a look into it when you have time and have settled down in the town you guys settle in. Enjoy that gorgeous state - it truly is something special!
Wow electrotronics! Thank you so much for taking the time to share all this! I have actually been researching Kingston and Kellogg. I've found quite a few pieces of property over there that are within our criteria, but once I heard about 4th of July pass, I kind of removed them from the equation. I'm not sure I could handle the stress of worrying about my husband traveling to and from work during the winter. He could possibly find work in town, but it took five years of us living where we are now before he was able to get a local job here and the population is about the same. It sounds like a beautiful place, though the skiing I could pass on. I LOVE hiking and camping, but have learned that learning new things (such as athletic things) now probably is not wise. I tried roller skating a few years back (I was never good), I fell and felt it for weeks. If I get on ski's your probably hear "Watch out for that tree!".
Anyways, I'm glad to hear that even though your not in Idaho anymore, your still in a place you and your wife love! That's what's important. We're only where we are because of family. I praise the Lord for at least giving me a country home while I have to be here. Every time we look out the window we hope to see something that's just not there, so it's time we move where it will be there!
I LOVE the mountains and can't wait to GET THERE and study the mountain formations. Thank you again!
You will find mountains and then some in northern Idaho. McCall, ID, is beautiful as well. There are many, many small towns I think would be worth living in in Idaho. Sounds like you're on the the right track.
Yeah, we picked Kellogg, ID, because I found a job in a doctor's office in Kellogg. Otherwise I don't see why we would move there. Having said that, I value the year and a third we got to live there. Good people, beautiful scenery and what amounted to part-time work supplemented by State of Idaho unemployment insurance. We were able to live for over a year there but you will come to know that Kellogg is kind of a poor place. It had it's heyday way back in the late 1800's and for most of the 1900's. There is still some mining going on in Kellogg, Osburn and the Wallace area but it's very minimal compared to before. I wish you the very best in your search and I think you guys will find what you're looking for somewhere in Idaho and you'll be happy, too.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
!
Rathdrum- My pick for best mix of rural yet closer to city
Anyways, I really appreciate your help!
